Paul then goes on to present to them a clear picture concerning the gospel preached beforehand to Abraham (Gal. 3:8). God did not give Abraham the law but the promise, which was not only concerning Abraham and his descendants but also concerning all the nations on this earth. This promise was initially given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 where God told Abraham—“in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (v. 3). In Galatians 3:16 Paul shows us that Christ is the unique seed of Abraham that brings the blessing to all the nations. In Genesis we can see the blessing, but we cannot find the Spirit. Paul was a marvelous writer. When he was talking about the seed of Abraham and the blessing to all the nations, he mentions the Spirit as the blessing promised by God to Abraham for all the nations (3:14).
Galatians 3:13 says, “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf; because it is written, Cursed is everyone hanging on a tree.” Paul was telling the Galatians that the law did not bring any blessing to them but it only put them under a curse. Then Christ came and died on the cross to redeem us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf. Christ Himself became a curse on the cross. While Christ was being crucified on the cross, there was a sign of curse upon Him—a crown of thorns. Genesis 3 shows us that after man fell, sin entered and with it the curse. The curse was that the earth would bring forth thorns and thistles (Gen. 3:18). Thorns were a sign of the curse and on the cross Jesus bore this curse. When He was hanging on the cross wearing a crown of thorns, this indicated that He was made a curse on our behalf.
The sentence in verse 13 continues in verse 14—“In order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the nations in Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” The nations means all Gentiles, all the nations of this earth. When Paul said, “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith,” he changed the nations to “we.” Therefore, the nations include the Jews.
Galatians 3:14 does not say that all the nations on this earth might receive the promise of going to heaven. The natural, religious mentality believes that the blessing of the gospel is to go to heaven. Many Christians believe that the goodness of believing in Jesus Christ is having a happy life in this age and then after we die we go to heaven. To them this is the top blessing, even the everlasting blessing of the gospel. From my youth I heard frequently that if a person did not believe in Jesus Christ, he would go to hell and that if he did believe in Jesus Christ, he would go to heaven. I heard the gospel preached in this way time after time. Sixty years ago in China many preachers would warn people about going to hell and would tell them that God prepared a heavenly mansion with golden streets and pearly gates. They preached in this way to motivate their listeners to believe in the Lord Jesus. The “going to heaven” gospel never stirred me up. I always wondered what kind of religion would always talk about hell and heaven again and again. In 1925, however, when I was still under twenty, I heard the genuine gospel and got caught by the Lord.
The blessing of the gospel is that we might receive the promise of the Spirit, who is the consummation of the processed Triune God. This is not merely the God who created the heavens and the earth. This is the Triune God who has gone through all these processes: incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. After passing through all these processes, He was consummated to be the Spirit, the extract of the Triune God. The blessing of the gospel is the Spirit, who is the sum total and the aggregate of the Triune God; the processed Triune God. Because our natural mind cannot comprehend this, we need a vision. What a blessing this is! An expensive car, even the so-called heavenly mansion, cannot be compared with the Triune God. Even the entire universe cannot compare with our Triune God. The blessing of the gospel is the Spirit, who is the ultimate realization of the processed Triune God.
We should not forget that we receive such a wonderful Spirit through faith. There is the need to believe. God is prepared. He is fully ready to give Himself to you. He has been processed; He is not a “raw God.” He is the processed God consummated in the all-inclusive Spirit, ready for you to receive and enjoy, but you have to believe. You may wonder how you can believe, but you do not need to try to believe. Just look at the promise. Look at the Triune God. Look at Jesus Christ. Look at the Son of God who died on the cross for you. If you would look at Him, faith would rise up within you (Heb. 12:2). In Hong Kong, a city famous for selling jewels, the salesmen have a special art of showing someone these precious things. After their presentation of these precious things and after you see them, “faith” rises up in your heart. You may even sell everything to buy those jewels. A good preacher is one who presents “the jewels” in such a way. When this preacher gives you a look at the Triune God, faith rises up in you to receive such a One. This One is the blessing of the gospel.
I hope that today all of us would thank the Lord for such a blessing, which is nothing less than Himself. This blessing is nothing less than the Triune God who became a man in the flesh, who lived on this earth for thirty-three and a half years, passing through the entire human life. He went to the cross to terminate all the negative things for us, He released the divine life for us, He arose from among the dead, entered into resurrection, became the life-giving Spirit, and breathed Himself into us. He ascended into heaven and poured Himself out upon us. Now we have Him as our life essentially, and we have Him upon us as our power economically. We can live such a universal man, a wonderful man, a man of the Spirit, a man of God. We should all declare—“I am now a God-man.” This is the blessing of the gospel.